Zimfest News Blog

Zimfest Updates

Greetings all,

  • The Zimfest Concert Programming team has built a tentative concert schedule and sent out initial emails with proposed performance times to the contact people for all the US-based bands and ensembles. Please check your spam folders and write to performers[at]zimfest[dot]org if you have not received your notification. We know that many of the band members also take workshops and want to know their performance time before registration opens. If we do not hear from you within a week we will assume your assigned performance time works for your band.
  • Publication of the workshop schedule is targeted for April 22. Around that date we will be sending more formal performance notifications, with a link to sign your contract/agreement online.
  • Reminder to accepted teachers who have been sent acceptance letters with links to contracts – please sign by July 10! If you have not received the email with your letter, please check your spam folders before writing to teachers[at]zimfest[dot]org. 
  • And last but not least, we introduce our accepted Zimbabwean cultural educators for Zimfest 2025 on the Festival Overview page! As always, actual attendance at Zimfest is dependent on visas being approved. Wait times for visa interview appointments in the US Embassy in Harare are longer than ever, so we are doing our best to expedite the interviews of those applying in Zimbabwe. We ask you to send us and them some help from the ancestors!

Until next time,
Zimfest Coordinator Claire and the Organizing Committee

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: ,
2 Comments — Comments Are Open Post Your Reply

Marketplace Vendors and Teachers Info

Greetings Zimfesters and Friends,
Letting you know that:

  • Vendor booth applications are now open for the Zimfest 2025 African Marketplace at CWU. Please read the Vendor Information page for info on rates charged for booths, tables and chairs; the link to the application is on the same page. The deadline is July 17. Applications received after that date will be charged a late fee and may not be able to rent tables and chairs.
  • The Teachers and Workshops team has completed the monumental task of generating a workshop schedule featuring 26 teachers presenting almost 80 cultural and musical workshops! Teachers have been sent acceptance letters listing their scheduled workshops and times as well as a link to the Contract Website to sign their agreement and read the Leadership document. We ask that you let us know if you find any inaccurate information or time conflicts, and request (insist!) that you sign your contract or agreement by July 1.
  • Target dates as shown here are: April 22 for publishing the workshop schedule; May 1 registration opens for Zimfest members and; May 3 registration opens for all.

Back to work (no April Fool’s joke!),
Claire and the OC

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: , ,
2 Comments — Comments Are Open Post Your Reply

January and February Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the January 12th and February 9th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.

Posted In: Zimfest Association News
Tagged With: ,
No Comments

Zimfest Updates & COVID Policy

Greetings Zimfest community,

  • The ZA Board, aware that COVID-19 infections could surge at any time, has come up with a policy for Zimfest 2025 based on personal responsibility and the creation of a safe environment for all. The policy has been posted here on the Zimfest website.
    • A core feature of the policy is that workshop teachers may either require masking or encourage the voluntary use of masks in their classes. In order for masking requirements to be known ahead of time, the organizing committee will be writing to all accepted teachers to indicate their preferences as soon as possible. Teachers, you can assist in this process by writing teachers[at]zimfest[dot]org with your stated preference. If we do not hear from you, we will assume you do not want to require masking in your class(es).
  • On another topic, we have been informed that there is a wheelchair lift and small number of ADA rooms in the dorms we have been allotted. See Disabled Access for further information. If any wheelchair-bound Zimfest participant wishes to rent one of these rooms, please write to registration[at]zimfest[dot]org before June 15, 2025. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Festival Coordinator Claire

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: , ,
No Comments — Comments Are Open Post Your Reply

Zimfest and Accommodation Updates

Greetings Zimfest community,

  • We are happy to announce that we have located a reasonably-priced hotel in Ellensburg that promises a group discount if enough Zimfest attendees stay there. The Red Lion Hotel Ellensburg is at 1700 S. Canyon Road off I-90 about 2.7 miles from the CWU Student Union and Recreation Center (SURC). If ten rooms are rented by Zimfest participants, each will receive a 10-15% discount (current undiscounted price for a room with queen bed is $105). Please call 509-925-9800 and let them know you are with Zimfest 2025. Zimfest cannot offer any troubleshooting help should you encounter any problems, but please post a comment on this blog post if you make a reservation with them. Thanks to John Hatten for the many phone calls he made to bring this opportunity to you!
  • Zimfest 2025 teacher and performer applications closed as of February 28 and the Organizing Committee is hard at work sorting through applications, making determinations about acceptances and setting up the workshop schedule. Accepted teachers can expect to hear from us in late March, and accepted performers shortly thereafter.
  • We plan to open applications for Zimfest vendors and non-profit stands by April 1, and have published the African Marketplace and Information for Vendors pages on the website. The Marketplace and outdoor stage will be located in a grassy, shaded area outside the northeast corner of the SURC.

More news coming soon!
Claire Jones, Festival Coordinator

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: , ,
2 Comments — Comments Are Open Post Your Reply

Zimfest News

Greetings all,

  • Introducing the Zimfest 2025 artwork below and in the form of a Save the Date card/flyer that you can download from the Overview page (scroll down) and share. Thanks to Karin Rau for the original artwork she sent us in 2023!
  • We have been slowly but steadily receiving applications to perform and/or teach at Zimfest 2025 but we know there are still folks out there who are procrastinating! There is less than one week to go until the February 28 deadline!
  • Webmaster Larry Israel and myself, with the help of volunteers, have been busy populating the zimfest.org website with informational pages to help you plan your Zimfest 2025 visit. Need information on Off-campus Housing and Dining? Want ideas on things to do Around Ellensburg?

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: , ,
No Comments — Comments Are Open Post Your Reply

Reminder – Zimfest 2025 Applications Close Feb 28

Greetings all,

Happy February!

The Zimfest Organizing Committee has been gratified to see a number of familiar and not-so-familiar Zimbabweans submitting applications during the month of January, and we are working hard to determine who we can invite.  But where are the applications from teachers and performers resident in the US? 

Performer application info and a link to the actual applications is here on the website.

Teacher application info and an application link is here. Once you have submitted a teacher application, you will be sent a link to propose one or more (in-person) workshops. The workshop proposals are a crucial part of your application.

Thanks!
Claire Jones, Festival Coordinator

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
No Comments

Zimfest 2025 Lodging and Volunteers Update

Dear Zimfest community,

Breaking News from our host at Central Washington University: CWU Conference Services has made more dorm rooms available to us for Zimfest 2025, so that the total exceeds the usual numbers of rooms we have rented in the past. Thus, fewer people need to look for alternatives off-campus. The dorms are not air-conditioned (be prepared) but each room has a microwave and mini-fridge (yay)!

There are plenty of dry camping (tents only) spaces in a shaded area at the Kittitas Valley Event Center (aka the rodeo grounds). The walking distance from there to the dining hall in the Student Union (SURC) is approximately the same as from the dorms to the SURC.

Urgent Volunteer Need – We are still searching for a graphic artist who can use the winning design to create a Save the Date Card, Facebook banner and tee shirt design. Job description available on request; please write to volunteers[at]zimfest[dot]org if you can help.

 

Best regards,
Claire (Festival Coordinator) 

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
1 Comment

Zimfest New Model: Every Other Year

The Zimfest Association Board has made the decision to change the frequency of Zimfest from an annual to a biennial (every other year) festival, starting from 2025. There were many reasons for this decision. For details, please see the December Board Meeting Minutes.

Zimfest will be alternating years with the Nhemamusasa North Zimbabwe-music festival in Canada, which is already using the biennial model. This means that every year, there will be a festival for those who love Zimbabwean music — either Zimfest in the U.S., or Nhemamusasa North in Canada — with no date conflicts between them.

Sincerely,

Maria Minnaar Bailey
Acting President, ZA Board

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: ,
1 Comment

December Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the December 8th meeting of the Zimfest Association Board of Directors have been posted.

Posted In: Zimfest Association News
Tagged With: ,
No Comments

Zimfest 2025 Applications Are Now Open

Applications to teach or perform at Zimfest 2025 are now open! For details, go to Teacher Application Information and Performer Application Information. The application deadline is February 28. Zimbabweans living in Zimbabwe, South Africa, the UK, or other locations in which a B1/B2 US visa will be required, should submit teacher applications by 31 January.

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: ,
No Comments

Zimfest 2025 Applications Open Jan 2

Season’s Greetings Zimfest community!

Zimfest Association elves have been busy preparing our website with an Overview of the 2025 festival, and application information for prospective Teachers and Performers. Applications are scheduled to open January 2 and close February 28, 2025. Access to the applications will be provided by links on the information pages starting Jan 2.

Fast-tracking non-resident Zimbabwean applications

We are aware that many of our Zimbabwean teachers not resident in the US face delays getting B1/B2 visa appointments in the US Embassies where they live. To help get a head start on that process, we are fast-tracking Zimbabwean teacher applications. Zimbabweans living in Zimbabwe, South Africa, the UK (or elsewhere),  submit your teacher applications by 31 January so that we can make preliminary acceptance decisions and get letters of invitation generated by our university co-sponsors. You will still have until 28 February to submit performance applications and workshop proposals. Questions? Please write to zimguests[at]zimfest[dot]org. 

Happy New Year!
Zimfest Elves
Festival Coordinator Claire Jones
Web Manager Larry Israel

Music Dancing Across Borders

Posted In: Festival News
Tagged With: ,
No Comments